


Better Than Love

by SuperNintendoChalmers



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternative ZA, Established Relationship, F/M, bethyl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2018-03-02 09:55:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 18,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2808272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperNintendoChalmers/pseuds/SuperNintendoChalmers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She was younger but more mature, he was older and a pain in the ass. It shouldn’t have worked, but it did, it worked in a beautifully imperfect way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

She had met him when her car had broken down and had it towed to the shop he was picking hours up at until his brother said it was time to move on. Not that she saw him at first, jumping out of the tow truck looking pissed off. Pissed off and beautiful. Long blonde hair, big baby blues, and legs that went on for days. He stood there, amused, while she was kicking the tires of her car as they brought it off the truck. She was going on, huffing about her “stupid, useless, piece of junk” car while determinedly stabbing a text into her phone. He let out a small laugh at some point in his observation of her and her head finally snapped up, eyes meeting his. She looked slightly embarrassed, turned a pretty shade of pink while giving him a small smile. He knew in that moment he was in trouble. 

He had fixed her car for her and she talked to him while accepting his grunts as actual answers, just going on about this being her first year in college, how she missed her family and the family farm. Missed her horses, which are more reliable than cars she would have him know. His lack of reciprocating the conversation didn’t seem to concern her, she was just happy he was listening. And he was. Intently to the sweet melodic sound of her voice, occasionally looking over at her letting her know he was still paying attention. 

By the time he was done fixing her car, she had invited him to watch her sing, something to do with a class she had since she was studying to become a music teacher. He hadn’t said yes or no, but she had given him a time and place anyway and told him she hoped to see him there. He wasn’t going to go. He knew it would cause more trouble if he did, especially for himself, but he found himself there anyhow. All rational thought of getting up and leaving left him though, when she opened her pretty mouth and her sunshine voice poured out. He sat there entranced while she sang a song he didn’t recognize, just staring. She had looked over and caught his eye, seeing he came and her eyes lit up, happy he had showed. 

It would be a lie to say they were inseparable after that. She was younger but more mature, he was older and a pain in the ass. It shouldn’t have worked, but it did, it worked in a beautifully imperfect way. Even his brother loved her, respected her even. She made him happy and even though his brother gave him shit for it on a consistent basis, he had made sure they stayed in the city and he knew it was for her. He met her sister first on a visit to Atlanta to see her baby sister. To say he was intimidated was an understatement. He was scared shitless and he was pretty sure that her big sister could smell fear. His insecurity almost got the best of him, but they came out stronger in the end with a hug and a blessing and a threat to bring him to the farm or her daddy would have a fit. 

So that’s what she did, she brought him home for the holidays and while he was a nervous wreck, it went better than expected. Not to say her daddy didn’t threaten him, he did, but he came out in one piece, so he was calling it a success. And they were happy. It wasn’t always easy and it took her stubbornness to outweigh his pride on more than a few occasions, but at the end of the day, they loved each other. Not that he had said that yet. He was planning to. He really was, he just wanted to wait for the perfect moment. And he would have found it too had the dead not started walking the Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically this happened because while watching Daryl work through his bullshit is fun, I thought it would be fun to establish them before the ZA happened.
> 
> All mistakes are mine, I like to keep them that way, let them know who's boss.


	2. Chapter 2

She was terrified. She had seen these creatures, these dead people kill and eat people, even some people she knew. Most people had fled and she had tried with them. She had gotten stuck in her dorm trying to get some of her stuff so she could get back to the farm. A few narrow escapes and listening to bombs hit different parts of the city later had her on the the run. With a duffel bag and a few weapons she had been barely surviving. She was good at hiding, good at watching, good at seeing people before they saw her so that’s what she did. Her family was hopefully on the farm and her boyfriend was on a hunting trip with his brother, which terrified her. Her cell was dead and probably useless anyway and calling Daryl while he was in the woods was usually pointless anyhow. 

She had seen the some of the people from the group go into the store and was debating with herself whether or not to go up to them when she saw him, the cop on a horse. Saw what happened to the horse too. She didn’t think she would ever get that sight out of her head, not that dead people eating the living was so much better, but her soft spot for animals ran deep. She watched and waited seeing what they would do. Some gunshots and screaming later, she wasn’t too sure about them anymore, even if that cop did get himself out of quite the sticky situation. 

She had been making her way through while that group had been causing chaos, hopefully safely making her way out of the city, heading to the farm was her goal and she just hoped Daryl and Merle headed there as well. She heard the car before she saw it, and it was bringing the dead to her quickly so she stepped up her pace and then started jogging to put distance between them and her. The car with the alarm going off was getting closer and she was running faster when the car approached. A young Asian man stared at her eyes wide and yelled, “Get in!” 

She thought about it for a few seconds before deciding he looked less dangerous than the people trying to eat her, so she ran to the other side of the car and jumped in. 

“I’m Beth.” She said breathlessly. 

“Glenn.” The young man said to her while driving like a bat out of hell but he also seemed to be enjoying himself. They arrived at what looked like a large campsite and suddenly there were a lot more people, either yelling at Glenn for the car being loud or staring at her with interest. Before much in the way of introductions could be made, a large truck pulled up and the people started coming out. She watched misty eyed as the cop she had watched had a tearful reunion with his family. It was beautiful to see and she hoped to have the same thing soon. 

“Who are you?” she heard a voice say as she watched the scene before her. She turned around to see a young girl looking up at her with curiosity. 

“I’m Beth, Glenn found me and gave me a ride. What’s your name, sweetie?” 

“Sophia.” The little girl said and smiled shyly at her. An older woman with cropped hair walked up to her and offered her a bottle of water and said, “You look like you been running for a while, I bet you’re thirsty.” as she handed her the bottle. 

“Thanks, I’m Beth.” She said as she stuck out her hand to shake the woman’s hand.

“Carol.” the woman said, giving her a soft smile and shaking her hand. She heard a rushed conversation between a group of men and decided to sit back and watch like Daryl taught her to get the best handle on the situation. Eventually it all calmed down and there was food, actual cooked food and she was so happy for it. Living on what she could find and take with her had gotten old a while ago, but food was food and she was happy just to be eating. There were also introductions, not that she had a hope of remembering everyone’s names at that point. Two women she had met earlier, Andrea and Amy offered to let her sleep in their tent which she gratefully accepted, and actual sleep, not broken naps while in a constant state of fear would be nice. 

The next morning she went down to the quarry with the other women to clean up but remained fairly quiet, her worry about Daryl and her family eating away at her. She knew Daryl could survive. He was built for it, but she hated being separated from him. She sat lost in thought while the other women laughed amongst themselves, when she heard the sounds of a fight breaking out back at the camp. She and the others rushed back to camp to see the men trying to subdue someone. Someone familiar. 

“Daryl!?” she yelled as she saw her boyfriend trying to get out of a chokehold.


	3. Chapter 3

“Beth?!” Daryl looked at her, mystified. He jumped up and ran at the same time she ran and she nearly knocked him over when they finally met in the middle. She jumped, legs locked around his middle while crying into his neck. When she pulled back she saw the tears in his eyes and the smile he saved for her. If it had been any other time, the kiss that he laid on her wouldn’t have happened with such an audience. This time it was as if they were the only ones there. When they finally broke apart she put her forehead to his and both breathed in deeply with obvious relief. 

“I went back and looked for you with Merle, you were gone.” he whispered to her.

“I had to leave, it wasn’t safe. I’ve been trying to find you while trying to get home when Glenn found me and brought me back here.” she told him, still wrapped around him, not ready to let go yet. 

“We were planning on going there next, to see if you got home and make sure your family was okay.” he said as she finally relented to being put down. 

She looked up at him, confused and asked, “Where’s Merle, then?” as she grabbed his hand and turned around the group staring at them. His face immediately hardened as he looked at the new man in the group, Rick, and spat out, “They left him in Atlanta handcuffed to a roof.” 

“What?” she said as her eyes widened in shock and disbelief. How could they do that to Merle? Well, she knew how, but that doesn’t make it okay. 

She looked over to the group who still hadn’t stopped staring at them, feeling as if they were on display. As they walked back over she could feel Daryl’s anger and his body stiffen with tension, this wasn’t going to be good. She knew what was coming and just prayed Merle was still on the roof unharmed, waiting. 

“Where’d you leave him?” Daryl asked trying very hard to keep some semblance of control before his anger got the best of him. 

“I’m going back.” Rick volunteered while his wife, Lori, looked on horrified. Glenn and T-dog also volunteered to go back with them, there were also some guns that were left and Rick wanted them back. She had seen the bag but with all the commotion she didn’t think much on it. Shane and Rick seemed to be in an intense conversation but her only concern was standing right next to her. 

“I need you to stay here while I go, okay?” he implored to her cupping her face in his hands, staring straight into her eyes, begging her to see how serious he was. 

She didn’t want to. She never wanted him out of her sight again but she knows him. He’s determined and when he’s determined about her safety, sometimes it’s better to just go along with him. 

“Okay.” she whispered to him putting her hands over his, smiling at him softly. 

“Put your shit in my tent.” he told her and pointed out the right one to her as he grabbed the strap to the crossbow he wore on his back. She nodded at him and as he bent down to kiss her goodbye he put his hands on the back of her neck holding her head against his and whispered, “Please stay here and stay safe for me, okay? I need to know you are safe. You got a knife?” 

“Yeah.” She told him as she showed him the knife he had bought her a while back since Dixons tend to give weapons like some men would give flowers. He’s also given her pepper spray and a taser before so she knows he means business when he says he wants her safe. He nodded at her one last time before he turned and walked to the large truck with the other men going. At the truck, he stopped and turned to give her one last glance and she waved slightly at him with a smile. 

As they left, she went over to Amy and Andrea’s tent to collect her small bag of stuff so she could move it to Daryl’s when she noticed some people staring at her. 

“What?” she asked, eyes wide and feeling uncomfortable with the stares. 

“So, you’re Daryl’s girlfriend?” Amy asked, giving her a small smile.

“Yeah, almost a year now I think.” she replied, smiling back at her.

“Merle mentioned his baby brother was going crazy trying to find his girl but Daryl doesn’t talk much.” Andrea said, looking at her intently. 

“That’s just Daryl’s way, I think I talked enough for the both of us the first few months, I’d be surprised if he even knew the sound of his own voice at some points.” she laughed gathering her things up. Both women laughed with her as they got their supplies ready to go fishing down at the quarry. She felt the stares of the others as she walked to Daryl's tent. She knows they make an odd couple to some, but she doesn't care. Never has. She loves him, her family loves him, and that's enough for her. 

As she put her stuff in their tent, even cleaning up some because some things never change she could hear raised voices. She left the tent and got down to the quarry in time to see Shane beating Carol’s husband, Ed, to a pulp. From the little she had seen of Ed, he probably had it coming. Carol and Sophia deserved much better than his useless ass. 

She spent the next few hours waiting anxiously for Daryl to come back with Merle, while trying to make conversation with the other women to keep her mind off of how many, what did they call them? Walkers. She saw how many walkers there were while she was in the city and her nerves were getting to her. As they all sat around a campfire eating the fish Amy and Andrea caught people were starting to relax some, which was probably the biggest mistake as Amy came out of Dale’s RV and her arm was bitten by a walker. Then the screams started. 

She jumped up and pulled her knife out as she ran over to where Amy was, struggling to stab a walker in the head but finally managing it. She wasn’t sure what the others were doing, she was just trying to kill these things before they killed her. She saw Andrea go to her sister, she thinks she sees someone else get bit, she feels like she has tunnel vision, trying to stay alive and trying to make sure no one else gets hurt. 

Suddenly, she heard someone yelling her name, “BETH!” and she knows it’s Daryl. As she turns to run to him, a walker grabs her arm and as she is struggling to get her knife in its head, she sees the bolt go into the eye right before it drops to the ground. She looks over at him as he is running to her with a sigh of relief. And for about two seconds, she is relieved until she feels herself being pulled back by another walker. As she is trying to get out of its grip she can see Daryl running as Glenn stabs it in the head and pulls it off of her. 

“Thanks.” she gasped at him, trying to catch her breath.

“No problem.” he said with a small smile as he walked away to check the others. 

At that moment Daryl had reached her and pulled her into a tight hug, arm gripped tight around her neck while he breathed heavily into her hair. 

“Don’t scare me like that again.” he breathed out, trying to catch his breath. 

“I’ll try not to. Where’s Merle?” she asked looking around and not seeing him. 

“About that…” he trailed off as he looked at the carnage around them. 

After he told her what happened in Atlanta, they started the clean-up of the camp, which took them well into the morning with Glenn insisting they bury their dead. She watched Andrea cradle her dead sisters face, tears forming in her eyes as she thought of Maggie and how she hopes she never has to go through what Andrea is. She doesn’t want to put Amy down and while she understands, Daryl is less understanding and says he can do it from where he stood. As he goes to aim the bow, she puts her hand on his arm, looks at him, and lightly shakes her head as he turns to look at her. She knows he understands as he lowers the bow and leads her away to pack up their things. When she heard a gunshot, she knew Amy was well and truly gone. 

Rick and Shane seemed to be arguing over something, but she really doesn’t care, she just wants her family, which to her included Merle. She had wanted to rip into them for leaving Merle in the position where he felt he had to cut off his own hand, but the exhaustion was getting to her. She turned to tell Daryl she wants to go home when she hears that they want to go to the CDC.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance for my smut. It's awful, I know. I become 14 years old all over again and get embarrassed and just wish I could hide under a table the whole time. So I sucked it up and tried my very best you dirty sons of bitches.

The Morales aren’t going and Jim is bit and there is just enough chaos to give her a headache and she still wants to go home. Daryl thinks it’s a good idea to stay in a group until they get closer to the farm and while she agrees with him, she misses her daddy right about now. As if he read her mind, Daryl came over to take her in a hug and kisses her temple telling her everything was going to be okay. She wants to believe him. 

They’re on the road to the CDC when the RV breaks down and Jim wants to be left in peace. She hates this. He’s going to die alone or turn into one of those things and there is nothing they can do about it. Merle is gone, she doesn’t know if her family is okay, dead people are trying to eat them, the world has fallen apart, and she just wants to sleep. She had been running since the start and alone at that so her exhaustion finally catching up with her, Daryl tells her to nap in the truck and even though she is going to protest, she falls asleep almost immediately. 

As he looked at her through the truck window, he cannot believe she had found him of all things. He had gone crazy looking for her but she was nowhere to be found. He went to her dorm, houses of her friends, places they went to often, anywhere he could think of and she was just gone. They had gotten out of Atlanta with the intention of going to the farm as soon as they could but needed to gather up supplies, which is why Merle was on the run in the first place. She looked so tired and he wondered where she had been and what she had done but he was proud of her. He had tried to keep her safe, giving her self-defense lessons after a grabby asshole copped a cheap feel when she was out one night. The relief he felt was inexplicable. Like a weight had lifted off of him and he could breathe again. Now if only he could find Merle, but he knew Merle could handle himself. 

Getting into the CDC was a little harder than they originally thought, but eventually the doors opened and they were met by a man named Jenner. After submitting to a blood test and watching everyone eat and drink their fill, she felt like she could relax for a minute. She almost cried when they were informed they could take a shower. A real one. Almost like life hadn’t fallen apart and things might be okay.

She was standing under the spray of water when she felt familiar arms wrap around her. She leaned back into his hard chest and sighed in relief.

“I missed you.” He said into her ear as he started kissing her neck, traveling down to her shoulders with light nips and she shuddered from the feeling of it. 

“I missed you too.” She said as she turned in his arms turning her face up to kiss him on the lips. All the fear of never seeing each other again poured out into their passionate embrace as he picked her up and leaned her against the wall with her legs wrapping around his waist. She leaned her head back and moaned as he made his way down to her collarbones and chest, stopping to worship the breasts he loves and missed so much. She felt his hand travel down her stomach to the apex of her thighs, teasing her with his fingers feeling his smirk as she moaned louder. 

“Daryl, don’t tease me…” she trailed off as he slid two of his fingers into her and she pulled her head forward and started to kiss his neck while reaching down and rubbed her hand over his length making him moan in return. She had missed him so much, so scared she would never see him again, never feel him again that she was desperate with need. 

“Daryl, please, I need you… please.” She whispered into his ear and she could feel him remove his fingers and shift so he could slide into her heat. At the contact they both hissed with relief and pleasure. Slowly at first he held her up against the shower wall and thrust slowly in and out until she thought she was going to burst, but she needed more. 

“Harder.” She gasped looking at him and as he stared back at her she could feel him adjust the grip on her thighs, spreading them further apart while pressing her into the wall as he sped up his pace, slamming into her faster and harder. She released a moan that was probably a little too loud but she wasn’t sure she had control over that anymore. She could feel him against her clit rubbing it perfectly, like he was born with the knowledge of how to please her and she could feel herself getting closer to orgasm and she knew he could too as he upped his pace even more. He was groaning with pleasure into her neck as she moaned his name over and over again. She came with a muffled scream and he followed shortly after, breathing her name into her hair. He let her down gently on wobbly legs and let a light laugh out at how breathless they were. They finished their shower and quickly got dressed so they could sleep with walls and roof around them for the first time in a long while. They fell asleep as soon as their head hit the pillow wrapped around one another hoping that tomorrow would bring a better day. 

It didn’t. The next day brought them close to their deaths, again. Seemed like that part is the only constant in their lives now. She didn’t even try to calm Daryl down as he looked for a way out. Any possible way out of that building would do. As he looked at his girl, the fear written on her face, the more determined he became, he had to make sure she saw her family again. 

They got out by the skin of their teeth with a pilfered grenade and a ton of luck. At the last second she saw Dale and Andrea running out and she sagged in relief, Jacqui had stayed but you can’t make choices for others, they have to want to live and she was tired of the pain. She held on tightly to Daryl on the back of Merle’s motorcycle as they fled where the CDC once stood. Hopefully they would get to the farm soon and she could see her family again, though she was still worried about Merle. He was a tough son of a bitch, but he had cut off his hand and taken off so she just hoped he was as safe as possible. 

They had run into a mass of abandoned vehicles and when Dales RV had blown a hose they decided to stop and go through the cars for more supplies. As they were doing that, Dale spotted a large herd coming their way. As he tried to warn everyone, it was chaotic as people climbed under cars and tried to hide in any way possible. Daryl pulled her down and helped her under a car when he saw T-dog cut his arm and attract a walker, he looked at her and nodded as he got up to go help him, silently praying that she would be okay while he was gone. 

Something scared Sophia and she ran straight into the woods, and Beth was the quickest to respond. She took after her like a shot without looking back, stabbing a walker in the head while running after the girl. She was scared and fast and Beth finally caught up with her at a stream with two walkers on their trail, Sophia ran straight into the water while Beth struggled with and killed one of the walkers, she ran from the second and followed Sophia into the water. She knew she should be leaving tracks for Daryl to follow in case she couldn’t find her way back, but she was too focused on Sophia to think about anything else other than the girl. 

She should know better, she really should, but she got herself turned around while chasing Sophia and now she had no idea which way to go. The sun was setting and they needed to find some sort of shelter for the night and they could try and find everyone in the morning. They finally came across a deer blind and she figured that would be as good as anything. She knew she was in the woods close to the farm, but she didn't have a prayer trying to find it in the dark. 

“Sophia, I need you to stand here very still while I climb up and make sure it’s safe, okay?” she whispered to her. 

The little girl nodded and hugged her doll. After climbing up and making sure there were no nasty surprises she climbed back down and helped Sophia up the ladder and they both let out a breath in the relative safety of the blind they would be spending the night in. As she held Sophia close and they lay still in the night her last thoughts before slumber were, “Daryl is going to be so pissed.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted Maggie to be the Maggie I used to love. So there's that.

Daryl was pissed. When he figured out that she had taken off after Sophia, you would have thought he was part bull with the way he was breathing and stomping around. Poor Carol was in tears, Rick was worried, and Daryl was livid. Shane, Rick, and Carl went looking in one direction while Daryl went in the other looking for her not sure if he was going to kill her or kiss her when he got his hands on her. He lost their tracks at a stream and while he was trying to keep himself calm and head back to the freeway to come up with another route before dark he saw the back of Lori and another woman on a horse riding away. He learned Carl had been shot and taken to a local farm since the man was a doctor. He immediately thought of Hershel, even though he was a vet, but there were a lot of farms in the area. He knew they were close to the farm, but he and Beth hadn't discussed the prospect of the others showing up with them. Especially without talking to Hershel first. The rest of the group had been heading toward Ft. Benning and he had assumed they were going to part ways shortly, but now they had missing people and a little boy with a gunshot wound to take care of. 

The night came and he was worried sick. He didn’t want to show up at the Greene farm without their youngest daughter, Hershel or Maggie might shoot him on sight for something like that. Carol was crying softly and he felt like doing the same, he had already lost her once, he would not do it again. He couldn't listen to Carol cry anymore and headed off into the woods to look even though he knew he wouldn't be able to see much.

In the morning, they left a sign on a car on the freeway with some food telling them to stay put if they made their way back and that they would check every day. As they made their way with the direction given, his stomach sank. Of course it was Hershel’s farm. Maggie was going to have his ass. Maybe he should have kept better check of Merles stash when he was giving T-dog meds, he might need some himself soon. As he saw the familiar house come into view he was a bundle of nerves, he had no idea what he was going to tell them. He stopped the motorcycle and got off walking up to the porch when Maggie flew out the door at him. The group watched with wide eyes as they realized Daryl knew these people. 

“Daryl, I’m so glad you’re okay! Where’s Bethie?” she said fairly loudly as she flung her arms around his neck. The mention of Daryl and Beth’s names brought Hershel out and he came down the porch steps to pull him into a tight hug and out of Maggie’s grasp, not caring how uncomfortable Daryl might be with the affection. 

“I’m so glad you’re okay, son. Do you have Beth with you?” he said with tears shining in his eyes. 

“No.” he choked out, starting to tear up for the first time. As the group turned and looked at him with wide sympathetic eyes he started to explain.

“When it started I was on a hunting trip with Merle and when we rushed back to Atlanta after getting word of what was going on, I went to her dorm, everywhere I could think of to find her but she was nowhere. I thought she would have come back here and that’s where I was headed when Merle and I met up with this group and we needed to gather supplies for the trip here. When I went hunting and Merle went to the city on a run, I guess Glenn found her running out of the city and brought her back to camp.” he said as he pointed at Glenn who smiled sheepishly at Maggie who turned to stare at him. 

“So where is she?” Maggie asked impatiently. 

“The RV over there broke down on the freeway and we came across a herd and a little girl from the group got scared and ran off and you know Beth, she took off after her. They’re in the woods somewhere, I’m gonna find her Hershel, you know that, right?” he asked, his voice breaking on the last words. 

“I know, Daryl. I know.” He said as he grabbed his shoulder, worried for Beth but glad she made it out of the city. He had been so worried. 

“Let’s go Daryl.” Maggie said getting ready to walk into the woods and find her baby sister with a determined look on her face. 

“Alright.” Daryl said, adjusting the strap of the crossbow on his back getting ready to follow the older Greene girl. 

As they turned and headed toward the woods two figures broke the tree line, slightly staggering towards them.


	6. Chapter 6

Beth woke up when the sun was coming up still holding on to Sophia, determined to get them to safety today. She woke up the young girl and as they climbed down the blind steps, she hoped she could find her bearings in the morning light. As they walked along a trail, she noticed some familiar sights. Trees marked from camping trips in the woods with Shawn and Maggie from when she was little. If she followed them, she knew she would find a trail to the house. Home. She hoped they were there and then she could go back to the freeway and get Daryl and bring him back with her. 

She found some berries for Sophia to eat along the way and talked to the young girl about what she liked in school while keeping an eye out for walkers at the same time. As they got closer to the farm she could feel her stomach knot up at the fear that her family was gone or worse. She was feeling tired and dehydrated and hungry so when they broke the tree line she was giddy with relief. She saw Dales RV sitting there and was surprised the group had gone to her daddy’s farm. She had thought they would stay at the freeway. 

She saw a figure with short brown hair running at her along with another larger one with a crossbow on his back. There was a third one, a feminine one with much shorter hair and she knew it was Carol. She and Sophia started to run to them at full speed. She thought her legs were going to give up but she kept going, tears streaming down her face. 

Daryl reached her first, hugging her tight and swinging her around talking through tears in her neck saying repeatedly, “I love you. Don’t ever do that to me again.” While she grabbed onto his vest sobbing into his shoulder and nodding Maggie finally reached them and yelled out, “Bethie!” and threw herself on both her and Daryl not caring what anyone thought of her affections. Beth threw her arms around her sister with Daryl all caught up in it as well and as she sobbed into her sisters hair, she saw Carol and Sophia reach each other and fall to the ground in relief. 

Walking back to the farm with her arms wrapped around her sister, she felt like when she found Daryl, like she could breathe again. Maggie filled her in with what had happened to Carl much to her horror and how Rick was giving him blood and Shane and Otis went to the school for the FEMA supplies, but Otis didn’t make it back. Which set her off crying again, she had known Otis her whole life and couldn’t imagine how Patricia was feeling. When she saw her daddy, it was over and she took off running again until she broke through the group who had been watching and threw herself into her daddy’s arms telling how much she loved him and how glad she was that he was okay. When she finally pulled back she looked at him through teary eyes and asked, “Where’s Mama and Shawn?”

She saw his face fall and she knew. She didn’t want to believe but she knew.

“They got sick Bethie.” was all he said to her. It’s also all she heard before she saw black come over her field of vision and felt herself start to fall. 

“Beth!” she heard Daryl yell as he ran to catch but she was already out. 

He caught her just before she hit the ground. Maggie yelling, Hershel’s worried face looking down at her in his arms. 

“When’s the last time she ate or drank anything?” Hershel asked. 

“She gave me berries, but didn’t eat any herself when we were out there.” Sophia piped up and Carol hugged her close, worried about the woman who ran after her daughter and kept her safe. 

“She probably hasn’t eaten since the CDC then.” Daryl said as her stood up with her in his arms, getting ready to take her in the house. 

“Put her in her room Daryl, I’ll give her an IV and see what we can do from there.” Hershel stated as Daryl walked up the porch steps, with Maggie opening the screen door for him. As he carried her up the steps he was worrying about her with every step. He laid her in her bed and waited by her side for Hershel and Maggie to come in with the IV. He saw Patricia stick her head in, concerned about Beth but still grieving over Otis. She gave him a small smile and turned around when she heard Hershel and Maggie with the IV supplies.

When she came to she had no idea where she was, but as she got her bearings she realized she was in her old room with an IV in her arm and it all came crashing back down on her. She stifled a sob as she thought about her Mama and Shawn. She felt a strong arm wrap around her and she rolled over best she could with the IV in her arm and cried into his chest. 

“I’m sorry, Beth, I’m so sorry.” he whispered to her while holding her tight. He let her cry herself back to sleep and stayed put keeping her in his arms. Hershel came in the room to remove the IV and saw her tear stained sleeping face and looked at Daryl. 

“Do you think she'll be okay?” he asked him, concerned about his daughters welfare.

“She’s strong, she survived on her own for quite a while, she’ll make it, she just needs to grieve.” Daryl told him while he set to removing the IV. Hershel nodded at him telling him, “Next time she wakes up, let’s try and get some food in her.” as he walked out the door, Daryl nodding at him as he went.

When she woke up again, she noticed the IV was out of her arm but she was still being held by Daryl. 

“Hey.” he said to her sleepily giving her head a small kiss. 

“Hey.” she said back to him, giving him a faint smile. 

“Your daddy says you need to eat something.” he said to her moving to get up and come around to her side of the bed. She nodded even though she had no appetite, she didn’t feel like fighting Daryl, her daddy, and Maggie. He put his hand on her back as she led the way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Maggie smiled brightly at her wrapping her up in a huge hug and told her she had made a plate for her to eat. 

“Okay.” Beth said and gave her sister the best smile she could muster. Daryl came over and put his hand on the back of her neck and as she looked at him he told her, “I’m going to go check on the group and see what’s going on, okay?” giving her a soft squeeze when she nodded her head. She saw him walk out the front door and head towards the camp they had set up. 

“Are you okay, Beth?” her sister asked her with concern in her eyes. 

“I will be.” she answered giving Maggie’s hand a tight squeeze. They smiled at each other and Beth went to pick at the plate of food knowing she would never hear the end of it if she didn’t at least try to eat something.

“So…” her sister started nonchalantly, “what do you think of Glenn?” 

“I like him, he’s saved me twice already. Why?” she asked as she turned to stare at her sister with curiosity.  
Maggie just looked at her, feigning innocence. 

“Oh, Maggs.” Beth stated knowingly. “Well, I like him, he’s been great to me and the group and Daryl doesn’t hate him which is a big compliment in itself, so if you like him Maggie, life is too short, you know?” she said with a sad look coming into her eyes as she thought of her Mama and brother. Maggie just nodded at her with a far off look in her eyes. 

She went to grab her boots after picking at the food and headed outside to see what everyone was doing. As she walked down the porch steps she saw Daryl standing near Rick and Shane and no one looked too happy. She didn’t think she wanted to be involved in that so she headed over to Carol and Lori to check on Carl and Sophia. 

“Hey.” she said as they both looked up at her and smiled. 

“How are you sweetie?” Carol asked softly coming over and putting her in a warm hug. “Thanks for looking out for my girl, I don’t know what I would have done if something happened to her.” She finished as she released the hug. 

“I’m fine, or I will be. I’m glad Sophia is okay, though. How is Carl?” she asked, turning to look at Lori. 

“He’s going to be just fine thanks to your dad.” She said as she smiled at her, giving her arm a squeeze. She smiled back at her and caught Glenn’s eye as he walked by. At the speed he looked away and walked past, she knew something had definitely happened between him and her sister. 

She turned and caught Daryl’s eye, so she excused herself to walk over to him, coming up behind him where she could hear the tail end of the conversation. 

“If Hershel wants you to give up the guns and you want to stay, you’re going to have compromise with him.” She heard Daryl say to Rick and Shane. 

Rick gave a small nod as Shane scoffed and started shaking his head no. She caught his eye as she came to stand next to Daryl, “We need to be protected, he can’t ask us to give up our weapons.” he said directly to her. 

“If that’s what Daddy wants, he’s probably not going to change his mind.” she said with a small shrug. 

“Shane…” Rick started but Shane wasn’t listening.

“No, how are we supposed to protect our own without weapons?” he started, his voice getting louder as he looked more and more agitated. 

“I’m sure he’ll let you keep a rifle or gun for emergencies, you just have to give him a good reason, he’s level headed, just old fashioned.” she told him hoping that would calm him down. Which, no, it made it worse. 

“Level headed?” he snorted at her “Is that why he lets his youngest date a white trash redneck?” he said with a disgusted look. He had barely finished the sentence before Daryl had punched him straight in the jaw knocking him back. As Shane got his balance he charged at Daryl, getting ready to take him to the ground when Rick went to pull him off and Glenn running over to help Beth pull Daryl off of him. In the scuffle Shane knocked her over and she landed hard in the dirt, which is what her daddy saw when he came outside from the commotion. Daryl had seen red when he saw her hit the ground and he lunged for Shane again, intent on beating him senseless. 

“STOP IT NOW!” Hershel roared halting everybody’s movements. The rest of the group had run to the fight, not knowing what was going on. Daryl stood and pulled her up with him as Maggie reached her, looking her over. 

“What the hell is going on out here?” Hershel asked, looking at Daryl for an explanation. 

“Shane here is not happy about giving up his guns or me being with your daughter.” Daryl said simply, shrugging his shoulders. 

“Is that so?” Hershel asked as he looked at Shane and Rick “If that’s the case, once that boy is healed, you people can move on.” he stated simply and turned to walk back into the house. Everyone’s eyes went wide as they watched him leave, then they turned back to her like she had an answer. 

She turned to Shane and said, “Shane, insulting Daryl was just as bad as insulting any member of my family. All he asked is for you to give up some weapons, to stay on the relative safety of the farm. Is this the outcome you wanted? Carl and Sophia back out on the road? Did you get what you wanted?” walking closer to him as Daryl reached out to pull her back but she avoided his grasp as she stepped up to Shane and said, “Oh, and if you ever insult Daryl again anywhere near my ears I will cut yours off.” and as she turned away from him she added, “And I got a lot of ears around here Shane, I’d watch myself if I were you.” 

“Rick, you should talk to him, but he’s mad right now and he needs to cool off.” she told Rick as she turned to walk back to the house, the groups eyes following her and Maggie as they walked away. 

She awoke later as she felt a heavy weight sink her mattress down. She sleepily looked at Daryl and smiled.

“What are you doing? Daddy will shoot you if he catches you sleeping in here all night.” she said with a smirk. 

“Shhhh…don’t talk so loud or you’ll get me killed.” he whispered to her pulling her in closer to him, wrapping his arms around her. She could feel him smiling into her hair as she tried to turn around to face him. 

“You better sneak out before the sun if you want to get away with it.” she told him, snuggling closer to his chest.

“Hmmph. We’ll see.” he murmured into her hair as his body started to relax into her. 

“Rick’s worried.” he stated, trying to catch her eyes in the dark room. 

“I know, but daddy’s got to cool down some before anyone goes on and talks to him about it, you know that.” she said, looking up at him. 

He nodded and smiled at her, tugging her closer as sleep pulled at him. As she was drifting back off herself, she heard a whispered, “So, what’s going on with Glenn and your sister?” and she softly laughed at the question before slumber finally took over.


	7. Chapter 7

Daryl was gone when she woke up, proving once again, he was not a stupid man. She dressed and went downstairs where she heard the plans for day; defense training. Apparently Rick had handed over all of the guns with the exception of a rifle for emergencies. She chose to go with Daryl and the group as Maggie and Glenn went back to the pharmacy on another run. 

“Be careful Maggs, okay?” she said as she hugged her sister tight.

“You know I will be.” Maggie said as she let go of the embrace. 

In the afternoon when she got back, she found Maggie looking upset and was concerned as Maggie rushed her up to her room. 

“What happened?” she asked as soon as the door closed behind them. 

“One of those people almost got me today in the pharmacy with Glenn.” she rushed out.

“Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Did you get bit?” Beth asked frantically trying to check her sister physically with her eyes.

“No, Glenn took care of it, but that’s not the problem. Daddy thinks they’re just sick, Bethie. I did at first, but not after what I saw today, and the barn is full of them.” she said in one rushed breath. 

“What?!” she almost screeched at her older sister, staring at her with big eyes. 

“Be quiet!” Maggie said, taking her hand. “Oh and Lori’s pregnant.” she added.

Beth felt as she had been hit in the stomach. How could her daddy keep those things? She saw what they could do to people when she was stuck in the city. They used to be people, but not anymore. Daryl was not going to be happy about this, neither was the group when they found out as well. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked Maggie looking at her, confused. 

Maggie looked down, not meeting her eyes, “Because Mama and Shawn are in the barn, Beth.” Nothing Maggie said made sense anymore. She felt lightheaded and angry and she could feel the tears coming. 

“He needs to let them go, Maggie, they’re gone.” she implored to her sister, needing her to understand, “I saw what they can do Maggie, they are not people anymore. They just kill and eat and kill some more. You can’t let Mama and Shawn stay that way.” she told her sister, as tears ran down her face. 

“I know that now, Beth, I’m sorry.” Maggie said as she wrapped Beth up in a hug.

“I gotta tell Daryl, Maggie.” she told her as she looked up and met her eyes. Maggie looked alarmed at the prospect.

“Beth, no. Not right now…give me some time to work on daddy, okay?” Maggie begged her, knowing how upset Daryl would be once he learned how close Beth was to danger. 

“He’s going to know if I’m lying, Maggie, I don’t know how, but he always knows.” Beth said. Maggie smiled softly at that. 

“Can’t you just avoid him for the day or distract him with sex?” Maggie smirked at her. 

“Maggie!” Beth yelled, her mouth falling open at her sisters statement, “Besides, daddy would kill us both if I had Daryl in here all day and night.” she laughed, pushing her sisters shoulder, grateful for the broken tension. They giggled together at the thought of their daddy catching them in her room. 

She decided her best bet was to try and avoid him without avoiding him. She threw herself into helping Lori and Carol in their camp and in the kitchen, helping with laundry and farm chores. She saw Rick working on her daddy, trying to get him to see reason and let them stay. It was working pretty well since Daryl went hunting after the training session and was now making himself some bolts. If she avoided him too much he would notice, if he hadn’t already, so she was trying very hard to keep busy when he could see her as to keep the questioning down. Besides, if all else fails, she could try and distract him with sex, right? 

Her plan worked for most of the afternoon when he caught her by the stables, hugging her from behind whispering in her ear, “Why are you avoiding me?” Dammit, she thought to herself. 

“Just trying to stay busy is all.” she said sweetly. He gave her a look that let her know he knows she’s full of it. Time to distract him, she thought, turning around and throwing her hands around his neck, trying to walk him backwards into the stables. 

“What are you doing?” he questioned her but still letting her walk him backwards. 

“Distracting you.” she replied as she got him in the stables pushing him up against a dark corner. 

“Oh yeah?” he said. 

“Yeah.” she said breathlessly reaching for his face and kissing him deeply. She started running her hands under his shirt and up his chest as he groaned into her mouth, tongues colliding with one another. Her hand traveled down to the top of his jeans lightly dipping under the waistband. She could hear his breath catch as he whispered, “Beth, what are you doing?” 

“Nothing much” she replied through hooded eyes, popping the button of his jeans. She slowly worked the zipper down, as she kissed him. Reaching into his pants, she lightly touched his hard length, rubbing her hand up and down. He was breathing faster, which hitched and became even faster as she sank to her knees and took him in her mouth. 

She looked up at him as she worked him in and out of her mouth, listening to him grunt and moan, trying to stay quiet. He looked down at her, wide eyed and put his hands in her hair holding on to it as he threw his head back. 

“Oh god, Beth.” he said, trying to stay quiet as he gasped out another moan. She caught his eyes again as he looked down at her watching her mouth glide back and forth over him, taking him in as deeply as she could. She moaned around him and he thought his knees were going to give out. 

“Ohhh…” he gasped out as he came to the finish line, holding her hair tighter, moving his hips along with her mouth. She swallowed him down and smiled as she looked up, “Are you hungry?” she asked, getting back up. 

“I am now.” he laughed tugging her out of the stables and toward the house. 

She saw Maggie and Glenn in what looked like a heated conversation and as Maggie caught her eye, her face turned to a smirk as she stared at her little sister.

Beth looked at her quizzically, wondering what was so amusing and then Maggie put her hands to her hair, smoothing it down. Her hands flew to her own hair, realizing her own hair was a mess, trying desperately to fix it before her daddy saw her. 

“Daryl!” she hissed, “You could have told me my hair was a mess!” as he turned to look at her, he smiled. 

“I think it looks great.” he told her, with a half smirk. 

Great, she thought. She’s pretty sure half the group saw her mussed hair and knew exactly what they were doing as a blush stained her cheeks. 

Once in the house she sent him to the kitchen for food as she ran upstairs to fix her hair in the bathroom. Hopefully, he wasn’t too mad at her when he found out she was keeping the barn a secret from him. He might understand since she promised Maggie, but the guilt was starting to eat at her. She made it through dinner and into bed where she felt like she could finally breathe. 

She felt him crawling up her body as she was drifting in and out of sleep. She wondered what he was up to now.

“What’re you doing?” she murmured, trying to keep her eyes open. 

“Shhh.” was his only reply and he started to kiss her neck slowly, his big hands traveling under her shirt, pushing the fabric up as he reached her breasts and lightly traced her nipples, making her shudder. He worked her shirt over her head, kissing her on the lips, working his way back down he kissed her stomach and skimmed his hands along her sides. 

“Oh…” she moaned out, trying to keep quiet. 

He took the waistband of her shorts in his hand and worked them down her legs, kissing her navel as he went. 

“Did I ever tell you how much I love that you never wear panties to bed?” he asked into her skin and she smiled at him. 

“All the time.” she replied. 

He got the shorts off and kissed his way back up her legs, worshipping them like he’d never seen them before. As he got higher, her breathing got faster and as he pushed her thighs open wider, she grabbed handfuls of his hair, trying to bite back a moan.  
As he ran his tongue along her slit, her legs tried to come up, but he had held them in place, swirling his tongue around her clit, stroking her with his fingers as he slid two in, working them back and forth as he looked up at her biting her lip and eyes closed tightly. 

“Look at me, Beth.” he told her. 

Her eyes snapped to his and she felt like she was going to lose her mind as he continued to lick and tease her repeatedly. She felt herself growing close and pulled on his hair tightly while grinding her hips closer to his face. She threw her head back and used every bit of control she had to stay quiet while she came. Once she came down, he climbed back up her body, kissing her gently while getting under the blankets with her pulling her close. 

“You gonna tell me what you’re hiding anytime soon?” he asked into her neck as he lightly kissed it. 

Her eyes snapped open. Why she thought she could hide anything from him she’ll never know. 

“Promise.” she said as she turned her head to look at him. 

“Alright.” he replied and closed his eyes, letting sleep take him. 

She drifted off soon after, worried about what was going to happen next.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day brought chaos. She doesn’t know quite what happened, but Shane got their guns back, everyone found out about the walkers, and the group was headed to the barn when she made it outside. As she ran to catch up she caught Daryl’s eyes and she knew by his look that he knew she already knew. And he was furious. He looked away and followed the group, but stayed at the back, his body tense. She stood off to the side, listening to Shane yell, shooting a walker her daddy and Rick had apparently brought back to take into the barn everywhere but the head until he finally ended the thing. 

Once he opened the barn, the shooting started, as walkers she didn’t know and some she did started to file out and be taken down one by one. The tears ran down her face as she watched in horror as Maggie sobbed and her daddy looked broken at what the group was doing. She looked at Daryl and he was standing there, holding a rifle but not shooting. She turned her head and finally saw what he saw. Her Mama and Shawn coming out of the barn, growling and moaning and snapping before they were taken down with shots to the face.

She broke at that and fell to the ground, sobbing as she saw what her family members became and Daryl ran to her trying to get her to look up at him instead of her dead mama on the ground. He held her face, looking into her eyes, pleading with her to breathe and something else but she couldn’t make it out through her sobs. He was equal parts angry and concerned but she couldn’t think at that moment, something snapped in her at the sight of the massacre and she wrenched out of Daryl’s grasp as he yelled her name and ran after her, but she was faster and made it to her mama kneeling near her head and looking down at the face that barely resembled her once beautiful mother. 

“Mama?” she said quietly through broken cries, knowing it was pointless, but she did it anyway. She reached out to gently touch her face and was met with gasps and growls as her mama’s already dead body reached up to take a bite out of her and she felt herself being pulled back and into a pair of strong arms. She was scooped up and as she was being carried back to the house, she was vaguely aware of Maggie slapping Shane across the face. She cried into Daryl’s neck the entire way to her room, whispering that she only found out yesterday and she promised she wouldn’t say anything because Maggie promised to try and get her daddy to listen that they weren’t sick, but actually dead. That she told her sister she needed to tell him, but Maggie had begged to give her a day and that Glenn knew and Lori was pregnant and it killed her that she didn’t tell him immediately and she was so sorry and that she loved him so much. She felt him nodding along with her as he placed her in her bed, crawling in behind her, holding her until she cried herself to sleep. 

She woke up with a much different pair of arms wrapped around her. She turned to look at Maggie who woke up when she moved. 

“Hi.” she whispered.

“Hi.” Maggie whispered back. “Daddy took off and Glenn and Rick took off to find him. Also, Daryl is making arrows at the edge of the property and he don't look too happy. I'm sorry I had you lie to him.” 

“It’ll be okay Maggie.” she said as she gave her a slight smile. 

“They’ll be buried soon if you want to come outside.” Maggie told her as she went to get up off the bed. Beth followed her down the stairs and out the door over to where the graves had been dug. 

She stood there next to Maggie, holding her hand looking into the dirt when she felt someone come up behind her and place a kiss on the back of her head. She turned her head and saw Daryl squeeze Maggie’s shoulder as he came around and took her other hand. They all stood there in silence as her mama and bother were laid to rest. 

She'd had a good idea where her daddy had taken off to and while she wasn't happy about it, she could understand why he left.

When Rick and Glenn and her daddy finally came back, they had an extra person with them. He was injured and they locked him up in the barn, so she didn’t think the situation was too good if they took those extremes. He said his name was Randall and that he knew Maggie. That was the worst mistake he could’ve made.

When Daryl found out about Randall, he was livid. He had admitted to Daryl that his group had raped women, even though he claimed to take no part of it. If they cut him loose, he might bring his group back to the farm and to Beth. Not to mention the other women. He wasn’t proud of what he did to get the information, but he would protect his family at any cost. The fact that he claimed to know Maggie probably sealed his fate, a fate he wasn’t thrilled with, but he couldn’t let Beth or Maggie or any of the women be put in danger for one kid. When Rick and Shane had taken him out, but came back with him anyway, he could see the tension between the two, he knew what it was about, he wasn’t stupid. He didn’t want to get involved; the group had enough problems with trying to decide Randall’s fate. Beth wanted no part of it, she kept herself busy with farm and house chores, doing anything she could think of instead of thinking of that boy in the barn. Or what Daryl had done to him in the name of getting information. 

Hershel invited the group to stay in the house, aside from Shane, which was a tight fit but they could make it work. Especially since Hershel announced Daryl could move into Beth’s room considering he was sneaking in there every night anyhow. Both he and Beth had turned bright red while the group had a good laugh at their expense. Dale had been adamant that Randall not be killed, he knew the old man wasn’t going to be happy, but how far is too far when you are trying to protect your loved ones? 

He had agreed to help Rick and Shane take Randall to be executed, but Carl had been watching and Rick had wavered much to Shane’s displeasure. That’s also when Dale had been gutted by the walker out in the field. No one deserves to go out that way, especially the old man. He took the gun from Rick, not even sure why, just knew he could take some load off Rick’s shoulders. 

And that’s where he was now, thinking about the past week or so while holding Beth’s hand at Dale’s funeral.

That night the farm fell to the herd moving through. Randall disappeared with Shane saying he attacked him and went into the woods. Daryl didn’t believe any of it, especially when he and Glenn found Randall’s body as a walker with no bites on it. The series of events happened fast after that, the barn on fire, Patricia being killed, Andrea being separated from the group. He lost track of Beth and was internally going insane as he looked for her, then he found Carol running from some walkers and grabbed her, making his way to the freeway hoping she was there safe and waiting. When he reached the freeway, everyone except Sophia, Lori, Beth, and T-dog had made it there. Carol fell to her knees crying when she realized her daughter was missing again. He met the eyes of Hershel and Maggie as they looked at him hoping he had Beth with him. When they saw he didn’t, they both started crying holding on to each other for support. Daryl stood there not believing anything could happen to her, she survived in Atlanta on her own. She had made her way to him, she was a survivor, how could she just be gone? 

He silently fell apart as Hershel and Maggie looked at him, walking over quietly and both of them pulling him into a hug and that’s when he let it all out, the other members of the group watching as they had never seen him like this before, never seen him broken. They saw in that moment what Beth meant to him. She was his everything. She was everything good in his life and he couldn’t even track her because the walkers would have destroyed the trail. He could faintly hear Carol crying for Sophia but he was lost in his own grief and sank down to the ground just sitting. He was so deep in grief that he didn’t hear the blue pickup pull up to the group with the missing four members. 

“Mama!” he heard Sophia yell and saw the little girl run to her mother with a smile on her face. He looked up as Maggie yelled at him to get up. 

“Daryl, come here!” Maggie exclaimed. As he stood up he saw a flash of blonde hair running at him full speed. By the time he figured it out the little blonde had jumped on him and taken him back down to the ground hugging and kissing on him enough to make the devil blush. He was flat on his back as she sat up and straddled him with a smile on her face laughing with her tears already drying up. 

“How many times have I told you to have faith, Daryl?” she asked, poking him in the chest with a finger. 

“A lot. A whole helluva lot.” Daryl told her, wiping the rest of her tears from her cheeks, smiling up at her. 


	9. Chapter 9

They had been on the run for months, Lori's pregnancy growing with every day that passed. Rick and Daryl were on a mission to find somewhere safe for their families but kept coming up empty. It had everyone on top of each other and with Rick and Lori barely speaking, Glenn and Maggie sneaking off every chance they got, and himself and Beth stealing moments in the woods while he was supposed to be hunting. They had managed to keep everyone safe so far, but they were all beyond weary with being on the road for so long. That’s when they found it. And it could be perfect and safe for them all. It was a prison and they were going to take it back from the dead. 

Clearing the yard as it turned out was the least of their problems. That was the easy part. He trusted Beth to take care of herself, he knew she could, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to concentrate if she was actively putting herself in danger and seeing the look in his eyes, offered to stay back with Lori and help clean up the cell block they had claimed for themselves. His relief was palpable. All that did was put Hershel in danger and he ended up losing a leg for the effort. The prisoners they encountered had caused some trouble but seemed to have been dealt with just the two prisoners remaining, provided they stay to their side. 

Beth had been beside herself with Hershel’s injury, jumping into the eternal optimism she held, much the opposite of Maggie’s pessimism. He found Beth hemming pants for her daddy so he wouldn’t trip when was up and moving around. That was his girl, a fountain of faith. 

“He wake up yet?” he asked, looking down at her on the ground of the cell.

“No, but he will soon.” she replied and smiled up at him with tears in her eyes. 

He knelt down and pulled her into a hug letting her cry out the frustration, sitting her on his lap telling her about what else had been happening that day. 

And much to everyone’s relief, Hershel had woken up. Missing the lower half of one leg, but much like Beth, just happy to be alive.  
He was passed out on a cot when he felt a weight settle on his hips. He looked up and sleepily smiled at the girl sitting on him. 

“Whatcha doing?” he mumbled at her.

“Shh, unless you want everyone knowing what I’m about to do.” she replied with a smirk on her face. 

He felt himself go hard almost immediately as she ran her fingertips under his shirt, pushing it up and until he pulled it off over his head. She bent down kissing his chest, trailing kisses all the way to his abdomen, grinding her hips against the hardness she felt. She sat up and unbuckled his belt, popping the button on his pants and taking the zipper down freeing him. She stroked him a few times, making him bite back moans then she climbed back up his body, kissing him everywhere she could reach until she got to his mouth. She deepened the kiss, biting back a groan at the contact of their tongues. 

“I miss you.” she stated, looking down at him with those big eyes. 

“I’m right here.” he told her, confused. 

“I know you are, but everyone is so busy with everything, I just miss you.” she said, trailing her fingers down the side of his neck, making him shiver. He reached down to the hem of her shirt to pull it over her head and tossed it aside. He sat up, holding her to him as he kissed her chest, licking and nipping at her neck, putting a hand to the back of her head to hold her in place. She was grinding on him, causing them both to hitch their breaths. 

“Daryl…” she trailed off trying to get her shorts off. He let her lean back, helping her pull them off her long legs and threw them…somewhere…and pulled her back into his lap. She got on her knees and helped him place himself at her entrance, sliding down on him with relief as they both let out a breath. 

She put her forehead on his as she rocked back and forth on him, loving the friction it was causing. They were panting, trying to be quiet, drowning each other’s moans with their mouths and biting shoulders when it was just a little too much. He could feel her racing to her climax so he reached a hand down to her little bundle of nerves to help her along and soon enough she was biting him hard on his shoulder to stay quiet as she came hard around him. The feeling of her orgasm sent him into his own and she had to kiss him deep to stifle the groan that threatened to come out at his release. 

They collapsed on one another passing out right after managing to get under the blankets.

“I love you.” she told him, lightly ghosting her fingers over his cheek. 

“I love you, too.” he said into the top of her head as he kissed it and fell into a deep sleep. 

He woke up to Maggie kicking the cot and laughing at him, with a smile on her face. 

“What?” he grunted at her as he realized he was half dressed and pulled the sheet up. 

“Come on, Rick needs you for something.” she said, throwing a shirt at his face. 

“Where’s Beth?” he asked, trying to fully wake up noticing she isn’t in the cot with him. 

“Already up, like everyone else. Didn’t know you were so lazy Dixon.” Maggie teased as she walked out. “By the way, you might want to cover that bite mark before daddy sees it, Daryl.” she called out, loudly, as she left and he heard more than one person trying not to laugh. 

Great, he thought to himself. Damn Maggie and her mouth. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up and put the shirt on and grabbing his boots and vest as he got ready to walk out the cell. 

After he made it outside, he could see Beth standing with Rick as the two prisoners they let stay walk up to them and he quickens his pace not comfortable with them being close to any of his people, and certainly not Beth. 

**0))OoO((0**

As Beth was standing with Rick talking about making a list for what Lori needs for the baby, she saw the prisoners they let stay walk up to them. She hadn’t really seen them before, but hoped they were harmless. 

“Hey, there.” An older man with longish blond hair said as he and the other inmate reach them. 

“What can I do for you Axel?” Rick stated, looking at him plainly. 

“The cell block you gave us is haunted, man.” the other prisoner whose name she didn’t know yet said to Rick. 

Rick looked uninterested in the conversation, “Well, you’re free to leave then.” he told them, gesturing to the gate. Daryl reached them at that moment and stood behind her. 

“What’s going on?” Daryl asked Rick, turning to look at him. 

“The cell block is haunted and we want to leave if that’s where we have to stay.” Axel said as he shifted on his feet.

“Gate’s right there.” Daryl replied, pointing to the entrance. 

She turned and looked up at him. She knew no one was comfortable with the prisoners, but that seemed like a death sentence. 

“That’s just as good as killing them, though.” she said looking from Rick to Daryl and back again. The prisoners looked at her with wide eyes not expecting to hear that. 

“They want to leave; they are free to take their chances outside the walls.” Rick replied to her, turning to walk over to Glenn, motioning for Daryl to follow him. 

Daryl had a hand on her shoulder as she turned to walk away she heard one of the prisoners call out, “So I didn’t catch your name pretty girl…” and she turned her head just in time to see Daryl lay Axel flat out on his back, leaning over him saying, “Her name is “Off Limits” or “Don’t even look at her” your pick.” 

He turned around and grabbed her hand and led her away from the prisoners. She saw Maggie in the guard tower, and her daddy heading in the cell block with Carol and Lori. Sophia and Carl were sitting outside next to the prison doors reading some books they found in the prison library. Rick, Daryl, and Glenn were headed off to get wood for burning the walkers when they heard the alarms going off. She ran towards the kids rushing them into the cell blocks and ran back outside, pulling her knife as she went. She saw the walkers converging through the gate attracted to the alarm going off as Rick ran to stop the alarm, he yelled at the prisoners to start helping while he, Glenn, and Daryl ran to the generators to shut it off. She was running trying to get to Maggie in the tower when she felt herself being pulled back and the cold blade of a knife press into her throat.


	10. Chapter 10

“Drop your knife,” a man in a prison jumpsuit said. She dropped her knife with a clatter on the ground as the alarms quit and she looked around for walkers as best she could but she had managed to run to where she had been relatively safe on her way to Maggie.

“That’s a good girl,” he said in her ear. She looked up and met her sisters horrified eyes as he started walking her to where the generators are. 

“What do you want?” she gasped out, the knife feeling cold and deadly on the soft skin of her throat. 

“Your leader left me to die in a group of those things, I’m just returning the favor,” he said walking her in front of him so she would be hit first if anyone decided to shoot. 

He rounded the corner coming up on the prisoners, Rick, Daryl, and Glenn and she looks straight ahead as she meets their terrified eyes. Except Daryl’s, his eyes are furious. 

He is staring at that asshole Rick had already kicked out once, with a knife to Beth’s throat. She is staring at him and he can see the blade pressing into her porcelain skin and every second that the knife is there is another second his anger and fear are growing.

“What do you want, Andrew?” Rick asked.

“Revenge is a good place to start for leaving me out there to die,” he replied, keeping an iron grip on Beth. Daryl could see the skin around where he had his hand on her start to bruise and all he wanted to do was stick a bolt through his face but he couldn’t risk hitting Beth. 

“By threatening an innocent woman?” Rick replied, placing his hands on his hips, tilting his head. Glenn stood there staring at Beth with a worried look on his face. 

“Put your weapons on the ground,” Andrew demanded, pressing the knife deeper and Beth whimpered as a thin line of blood ran slowly down the column of her throat. Daryl saw red and Rick had to put a hand on his shoulder to get him to calm enough to put the bow down. His heart was racing, he was furious and terrified and the sight of her blood had pushed it to a boiling point. 

As he stood upright he saw something that Andrew forgot to account for. He smiled internally, knowing what was about to happen. In the line of people who will kill you for threatening Beth, Maggie Greene would be standing right next to Daryl, who was slowly making her way behind him as he held Beth only concentrating on the threat in front of him. 

The faces of the men as Maggie stepped up quietly behind Andrew and grabbed his hair and put Beth’s dropped knife to his throat turned from worried to pure anger as she said, “Let go of her. Now.” as she pressed the knife further into his throat. He released Beth and pushed her forward and Daryl reached out and grabbed her, putting himself in front of her. 

“Drop the knife,” Maggie said holding his hair tighter as he dropped it. Maggie looked at Daryl who already had his bow back in his hands, as she pushed him slightly to the side and nodded. 

“Hey!” Andrew had started to yell but a bolt to the eye had silenced him as Daryl walked up to him, kicked his corpse and said, “Shut up.” as Maggie ran to Beth to check on the slight cut on her throat, wrapping her arm around her shoulders leading her back to the cell blocks to have their daddy look at it.

As Daryl, Glenn, and Rick followed Daryl heard Axel tell Oscar, “I’ve picked “Don’t even look at her.” as they slowly followed them down to the yard to finish picking off the walkers that had made it through the first gate. 

The next morning he left right before sunrise to hunt, kissing her goodbye softly, telling her he would see her later. She grunted softly at him and pulled the blanket over her head as he laughed quietly at her morning attitude. When she woke a little while later, Glenn and Maggie were getting ready to go on a run for baby things for Lori. 

“Hey Bethie, feel like coming with?” Maggie asked tugging on her ponytail. 

“That depends on if you think we will get back before Daryl does,” she answered as Hershel laughed at her reply. He knows she can take care of herself, but everyone has caught hell when she disappears without him, so very few are willing to risk his wrath in the name of taking Beth on a run. 

“I think so, the store is close and pretty deserted, so it should be in and out,” Glenn told her while grabbing Maggie’s hand. 

“Alright, but if I catch hell from Daryl later I’m sending you down the river, Glenn,” she said much to his horror and Maggie’s amusement. 

It was not in and out as they had hoped and while Maggie was checking out a small store across the way she saw Glenn and her sister being taken by a man with a gun in their back. She watched in horror and anger as they were shoved into the back of a vehicle and slipped outside to see the direction they went so she could get the prison and get back up and go find them. There was no way she could do it singlehandedly. She ran back to the vehicle and sped out of there as fast as possible, tears clouding her vision and she raced to their home. She was so upset she almost hit a woman with a limp and katana on her back. She screeched to a stop and jumped out to check on her and saw her bleeding.

“Are you okay!?” Maggie asked, tears still falling down her face.

“I’m fine,” the woman said brusquely. 

“You’re bleeding, you are not fine, my daddy is a doctor, well a vet, which is just as good nowadays, so come on,” she told the woman heading back to the SUV she had been driving. 

“I’m fine,” the woman repeated.

“Okay, fine. You’re fine. Do you know of any place around here that would snatch people up and take them?” she implored to the woman, desperate for any clue that would get her family back. 

That got the woman’s attention and her eyes snapped to Maggie’s. 

“Yeah, I got a pretty good idea,” she said finally following Maggie to the SUV. 

“Well, let’s go. They took my boyfriend and sister and I need my people to get them back,” she said, turning her face to the woman as she started the SUV and started back on her route to the prison. 

“I’m Maggie,” she said without taking her eyes off the road.

“Michonne,” the woman replied and stayed quiet after that. 

As pulled up to the prison at breakneck speed, she saw Daryl was already back and headed to the gate to let the SUV in, his expression looked irritated, which means he knows Beth left with them. 

“Shit,” Maggie said as she was pulling through the gate and driving up the trail. 

“What?” Michonne asked. 

“There's a storm coming and he's right back there,” Maggie told her, putting the SUV into park and jumping out, leaving a confused Michonne behind. 

As Michonne limped out of the vehicle, she heard the storm start. 

“Where is she Maggie?” a gravelly voice yelled at Maggie as she ran to meet him. 

“Maggie, tell me now!” he barked at her. 

“Some guy took her and Glenn while I was in a different store, I saw the direction they drove off and she said she might know where they are headed,” Maggie cried out, fresh tears pouring down her face, pointing towards Michonne. 

“Who the fuck are you?” he barked at her. Michonne seemed unaffected by the redneck yelling at her. She didn’t get a chance to answer as more people came out looking at the commotion, wondering what has happened. 

A man on crutches was headed their way faster than she thought possible with a man who had a cops walk trailing right behind him. 

“Maggie? Where’s your sister? Where’s Glenn?” he called out to her.

“Someone took them!” Daryl yelled before Maggie could answer, pacing like a caged animal. 

“What?!” both the older and younger man asked. 

“Daddy, Michonne here might know where they took them and she’s bleeding and needs looked at,” Maggie said, waving her hand at her. 

“Well come on, I’ll check you out while you tell us what you know,” he said and turned around to head back into the prison. 

Michonne was wary as she followed the group into the prison and after recent experiences she had every right to be. She watched them silently as she sat where Hershel told her so he could look at her leg. She calmed some when she saw a pregnant woman and two young kids, though. 

“Where do you think they are?” the redneck, Daryl, started immediately, chewing on his thumb and still pacing. 

“Town called Woodbury. I just ran from there and they sent after me to kill me. Shot me in the leg, but I managed to get away and ran into Maggie here along the way. Guy who runs it, calls himself the Governor,” she said and winced as Hershel stitched up her wound and disinfected it. 

Everyone looked at her worried. She did not like having that many pairs of eyes staring at her. 

“Well, let’s go already,” Daryl started, grabbing a gun and throwing his crossbow over his back. Maggie had started strapping more weapons on, as had the man that called himself Rick. 

“Anyone else going?” Rick asked, looking at two guys in prison jumpsuits.

“I’ll go,” a tall black man said, stepping up.

“Alright.” Rick said, motioning him to follow. He turned and looked at her, “You good to go? You know where we’re heading?” 

“Yeah, I know where to go,” she said, limping along behind the group as they said their goodbyes to the ones staying behind. She saw the old man lay his hand on Daryl’s shoulder. 

“You bring her back Daryl, you hear me? You bring them both back,” he said, giving his shoulder a squeeze.

“There isn’t any other option, Hershel,” Daryl answered, his voice cracking before he pulled himself further upright and strode out the doors. 

In that moment she saw the storm he was capable of creating and she almost felt bad for anyone who got in his way. Almost.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The way Merle refers to Michonne is my absolute limit on that kind of language. So while I know Merle is salty and racist, he can think it but I won't type it.

Merle had heard from Andrea that Daryl was alive, or had been before the Greene farm was overtaken by walkers. He knew where the farm was but hadn’t headed there once he ran into the Governor's men. He was recruited, whether he liked it or not. He had known Daryl would go to the farm, that was their original plan anyway, so he had taken his time, waiting for them to trust him so they would stop watching him constantly and he could slip out and head to the farm without being followed. Or that was his plan. Knowing that Beth had found Daryl gave him some relief on his baby brothers account. He would have gone insane if he lost that girl. He liked Beth, loved her even for how good she was for his brother. 

He was doing things for the Governor that didn’t sit right with him, but what choice did he have if he wanted to be the one living at the end of the day? Hunting down peoples camps, killing them, stealing their supplies in the name of what? Keeping this town behind wall and give these people a false impression of “safety”? No, he needed to leave and soon. He didn’t know where to find Daryl and Beth, but looking for them had to be better than being the Governor's errand boy. He knew that the Governor had a bad habit of liking torture and he had seen it happen on more than one occasion so when he saw the flash of a familiar blonde ponytail being led in the Governor's private “Interrogation” area, he felt his heart clench. 

He had to see if that was actually her, so he started quietly following Martinez, trying to get a better look when he saw Shumpert move out of the way at the same time she tried to wrench away from Martinez and it was definitely his baby brother’s girl. He also saw that Chinese kid from the Atlanta camp, so they must have stuck together. Her being here without Daryl could only mean two things; the first being that Daryl had died, which he didn’t think was the truth, but he also knew he would die for Beth in an instant or that Daryl was on his way. The latter being the most likely and if that was the case, he needed to start working from the inside. 

He waited until they had them inside the building before nonchalantly making his way over there, pretending to be interested in getting the information out of them like he had done numerous times before. It usually worked with the knife contraption he had built to replace the hand he had cut off. He was still pissed about that. That situation wasn’t over if he ever saw the people responsible. He made his way into the building and heard Beth causing quite the commotion, slamming her hands on the doors, screaming to be let out. 

“Let me the fuck out of here, now!” he could hear along with her fists pounding on the door. He internally chuckled at her, she never did take shit from anyone. Especially Daryl or himself. He turned the corner to see Martinez open the door and backhand her telling her to shut up and be quiet as he shoved her back and pushed her into a chair, tying her hands in front of her. She kicked at him, face red with anger, telling him to go fuck himself. He hit her in the face hard enough to bruise this time and if Daryl is coming, Martinez better hope he’s not around when he sees her face like that. 

Martinez came out, and closed the door behind him, sliding the bar lock into place. As he turned he saw Merle and asked, “What’re you doing here?” 

“Came to help,” he replied as Martinez eyed him up and down. 

“Sure, the Governor wants to know where their camp is, they look well fed, clean, had a good vehicle, so they probably have a good stash and we need it, so do whatever it is you do to find out,” he told Merle as he walked away. Merle never thought Martinez liked doing this, but like himself, there isn’t a good choice when it comes to trying to leave the Governor. That black bitch had gotten away from him, but he knows he shot her before she disappeared. 

He sucked in a deep breath before going into the room. If Daryl was dead he wasn’t sure if he was ready to hear it. Sliding the lock back, he slowly entered and was punched in the face before he even looked up. He saw the hazy figure of a little blonde when he looked up.

“Damn girlie, why you gotta punch ol’ Merle?” he said shaking his head to get his bearings. He was not prepared for that.

“Merle!” he heard Beth cry as she flung her arms around his neck. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked him dropping her arms from around his neck. 

“The Governor's men found me after I was left on that roof by your Chinese friend over there,” he told her, with a disdainful look towards Glenn. 

“I’m Korean, Merle. And we went back for you, Daryl included,” Glenn replied with a roll of his eyes. 

“Whatever. How’d you get loose baby girl?” he asked looking her over, making sure she was okay. 

“Oh, you know how Daryl is; he makes me keep all these little knives on me all the time, this one was in my boot, he probably shouldn’t have tied my hands in front of me, huh? Too bad I lost my pepper spray,” she replied, shrugging as if everyone should know how strapped his baby brother kept his girl. Well, most people probably did actually. 

“Why didn’t you come to the farm?” she asked him, turning those baby blues right on him.

“These people don’t take too kindly to the muscle trying to leave. So, Daryl’s okay?” he asked needing confirmation even though Beth’s attitude gave away that he was. 

“Of course, Merle. Only a Dixon can kill a Dixon, you know that." 

“So you think Daryl’s on his way blondie?” he asked, not knowing anything other than they were a shit situation. She looked up at him tearfully, looking scared for the first time. 

“He doesn't know I left. He was out hunting when I went out with Glenn and Maggie. They didn’t get Maggie though, so I’m sure she went back for help, but how are they gonna find us if they don’t know where we went?” she asked, wrapping her arms around her middle. 

“He’s gonna be pissed Beth,” he sighed.

“I know. He’s going to kill me for this,” she said, meeting his eyes. 

“Well if it helps, he will probably kill me first,” Glenn piped up, giving her a small smile.

“Yeah, probably. Well, me, then Maggie, then you,” she responded, smiling back. 

“I gotta get you outta here girlie. They will kill you for the info on where your camp is. Probably rape you, too. And we don’t have much time either,” Merle said, trying to think up a plan. There was a back entrance he might be able to sneak them out of and maybe they could make it the fences. The whole damn plan was based on luck being in their favor though. 

He looked out the door, checking for people before ushering them out in front of him, telling them which way to go as he led them through the back of the building. Once outside, he kept them to the shadows and the back alley ways, trying to get them to a part of the fence he knew they could get through since he made it that way for his once intended escape. He knew they were going to have to make a break for it, but it was their only chance. They all ran for the fence, slipping through one by one and taking off through the forest as fast as they could. Merle knew there was a good chance they were seen leaving and had no doubt they would be tracked back to wherever their camp was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please refer to the owners manual for my brain for any and all errors you may find. I believe the warranty has expired but there is a 1-800 number you can call. 
> 
> You'll probably be put on hold though. For like ever. Listening to 80's music. So you know, caveat emptor.


	12. Chapter 12

Michonne was sitting in the SUV with 3 others while the redneck followed on his motorcycle. The plan was to park about a mile from the gates, head through the woods to a weak spot in the fence. Everyone was tense, not knowing what to expect, not even knowing if that’s where they were taken in the first place. After Maggie had stopped crying, she got mad; she was stiff in her seat, her body visibly vibrating with anger. Rick had a white knuckled grip on the steering wheel, his face serious. The large black man she now knew was Oscar was sitting next to her, not calm, but more relaxed than the others. 

After they had parked and retrieved their weapons, they were at the beginning of the trail Michonne had showed them, the one she first used to run. Suddenly Daryl halted and held up his hand to signal for them to be still and quiet. After a second, she heard it too, the sound of twigs and leaves and feet stomping on the dirt, moving fast. Everyone had their weapons at the ready for whatever was coming when she saw a flash of blonde running in front of the man who had shot her, with an Asian man following them both. 

She saw Daryl drop his crossbow and take off running as the little blonde called to him. As she watched, they met and he picked her up hugging her like he hadn’t seen her in weeks, her face buried in his neck telling him she was sorry and asking him not to kill Maggie or Glenn. She looked around and saw Maggie holding on to the Asian man, crying and smiling. The man with the knife prosthetic that had shot her was just standing there looking at Daryl and the blonde with a fond smile tugging at his lips. 

Maggie ran to the blonde and pulled her off of Daryl and into a big hug the sisters laughing and smiling when Daryl grabbed the blondes face, cupping her cheeks in his hands, “Who did this to you?” he practically growled at the girl. Looking a little closer Michonne had seen her cheek was badly bruised and one of her eyes was slightly puffy. 

“Martinez,” the older man stated, speaking for the first time. Daryl looked up as if noticing him for the first time. “Hey baby brother.” he said, squeezing his shoulder. His entire demeanor changed once he saw Michonne and Rick. 

“Officer Friendly.” he said, looking at Rick. He looked at her and almost looked remorseful but said nothing. Her anger at the man who shot her would have to be put on hold for now, but she wouldn't forget the Governor or Andrea. 

“Merle,” Rick replied to him with a nod of his head. 

“Cuff anyone else to any roofs lately, Officer?” Merle sneered at him. 

“We came back for you Merle, you had already taken off,” Daryl said trying to diffuse the situation.

“We can settle this later, we gotta go before the Governors men catch up to us,” Merle said, heading for the motorcycle. 

“I’m taking Beth back on the bike Merle, ride in the car,” Daryl told him. 

“You gotta be kidding me little brother,” Merle stated, staring him down. Before the confrontation got any further, Beth walked up to Merle putting a hand on his arm and looked at him with those big eyes of her and said, “Please Merle? Just this once, okay?” and the man that had relentlessly chased her down and shot her just sighed and shrugged, turning to head to the SUV. 

**0))oOo((0**  

Merle ended up sitting in the back of the SUV, with all the other 5 seats filled up. He didn’t want to sit next to Officer Friendly or the woman he had shot, so he took the back gladly. He still wasn’t happy about not being on his bike, not that he knew how he was going to ride it one handed, but it was still his. He could see that woman, Michonne, staring intently at the little blonde on the back of the bike. 

Maggie who was next to her also noticed and asked with a small smile, “What?” like she already knew the answer. 

“They’re an odd couple,” she stated simply, her tone even. Everyone else in the SUV had chuckled at that as if used to that reaction to Daryl and Beth. 

“Yeah, but they work and they’re happy, so what more can you ask for, right?” Maggie told her with a smile.

“I guess the end of the world makes all kinds of odd couples,” Michonne said, turning to look out the window. 

“Oh, no, they’d been together for what, a year before the turn, right Merle?” Maggie asked, turning to look at him and Michonne turning her head to look at her with a surprised look in her eyes. 

“Sounds about right. He fixed her car at the shop she brought it to and he said he knew he was in trouble the second he saw her cursing up a storm at that damn car and kicking the tires mad as a wet cat. I told him it had to be love after he went to see her sing for the first time and he walked around for days with this sappy ass look on his face,” Merle said, laughing at the memory, the others in the car chuckling along with him. He remembered the look on his baby brothers face. He hadn’t had a chance after he laid eyes on that girl, he had looked dumbstruck from the beginning. 

“How mad was he Maggie?” Glenn asked nervously, turning to look at her.

“You know Daryl's bark is worse than his bite most of the time but I’d still avoid him for awhile if I were you, that’s my plan,” Maggie replied, taking his hand in hers. Glenn sighed and turned his head to lean on the window. 

Michonne turned to look at Maggie with a questioning look, as if to say the girl was safe for the moment, why would he still be mad?

Merle let out a huff of breath and answered before Maggie had the chance, “The only thing he’s scared of is losing that girl. If something happens to her you may as well make the hole big enough for two,” he said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. 

“Well, that and Daddy, right Merle?” Maggie said with a hint of laughter to her voice. Merle let out a loud laugh at the memory of Daryl coming home after meeting Hershel for the first time. If Merle thought his anxiety at meeting Hershel had been amusing, the terrified look he came home with was downright hilarious. 

They sat in silence after that, the tension returning to the group knowing they now had a much bigger problem brewing. As they pulled up to the prison gates Merle whistled. 

“Y’all have a prison?” Merle asked.

“Yeah, we cleared it, we took it back from the walkers, it’s been good so far,” Maggie said to him, no one else seemed to want to speak to him, not that he could blame them. 

“When the Governor finds out about this, he won’t stop til he gets it. He doesn’t care about the consequences, he will want this and he’s got more men and gun power,” Merle told them, looking directly at Rick in the rear-view mirror. 

“He’s not taking our home,” Rick said firmly. 

Everyone piled out of the vehicle, Beth and Daryl already waiting for them, they turned to head into the prison and as they opened the door, they heard a baby crying.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is shorter than usual I think. I blame the weather. Or my brain. Either way, here you go.

The last few days had Daryl exhausted. It had come to light that Merle had shot Michonne under the Governors orders, causing a series of arguments about Merle leaving the prison. Beth had took up for Merle like a wildcat; defending him by telling everyone about what she had seen of Woodbury, how he was trying to stay alive to find Daryl and she'd do the same thing for Maggie. She also made him apologize to Michonne, which was entertaining to say the least. Michonne had taken off, said she needed to find a friend and that was that. Or so he thought. She showed back up a couple days later with a shaken up Andrea and once she confessed to killing the Governors dead walker daughter, Penny, the intensity of fortifying the prison had doubled.

Lori had survived the birth, but just barely. The baby was born bright and pink and healthy and the relief and joy of her arrival was dimmed by the threat of the Governor and the possibility of attack. Lori was in no condition to be moved and they could not be on the road with a newborn. Carl had named the baby Judith (even though Daryl preferred the name Lil Asskicker) and the entire groups priority was keeping their home so the baby and the family stayed safe. And that's where he was now. Taking a break from digging pits and reinforcing the fences.

"You thirsty?" Beth asked him, handing him a bottle of water.

"Yeah, thanks. What're you doing?"

"Getting ready to dig with you, it'll be like a date," she said, laughing lightly. They hadn't had very much time alone together in the last few days and he was starting to see how you could miss someone that was right in front of you.

"Why don't you go get some rest, you've been pushing yourself too hard," he suggested, knowing as he said it that it wasn't going to go over well. He had to try, she was working her self ragged.

"Why don't _you_ go get some rest? I don't see you taking any breaks around here."

"Maybe we take a break together?" he suggested with a smirk.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"That can be arranged," she told him, giving a sly smile, putting the shovel she was holding down.

"Let's go then," he said as he grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder heading back inside the prison while she laughed and gave a halfhearted effort to get free of his grip. He knew they shouldn't be taking a break right now, but he missed her and the stress relief was a much needed distraction from what was going on. The former prisoners and other group members could handle digging for a little while.

**0))oOo((0**

Merle watched his baby brother carry his girl into the prison laughing and kicking at him (barely, mind you) and he even let loose a light laugh when he heard a yelp and a, "Don't bite me woman!" coming out of his brother's mouth. He knew what they were off to do and he couldn't blame them. Gotta find some time where and when you can these days.

He knew it was a matter of time before the Governor showed up. The pits needed to be dug, the fences reinforced, the guns and ammo stocked up. Officer Friendly and the woman he shot, Michonne, were supposed to be going to his old town, a guy there he knew had weapons. And a lot of them; they were going to need all the help they could get. He's seen what the Governor could do. He didn't want his little brother or blondie or her family or that baby and the other kids to suffer at the hands of a psychopath. He would do what he needed to do if it came down to it. He always would for Daryl.

He heard Hershel come up next to him and they both watched the fences for a minute before he spoke.

"You just missed blondie, she went inside with Daryl."

"I saw, it's part of the reason I came out here," he laughed out.

"And here I thought you woulda been pretending not to know what they get up to," he told him, laughing with him.

"As much as I would like to be ignorant of the situation, I'm no fool when it comes to Maggie or Beth. They're both grown with good men by their sides. That's about all I can ask these days."

"My baby brother would die for her. To him, it's not even a choice, it's the only option. He loves her in a way I know he didn't learn from me or our old man."

"I know. Daryl is a good man, always has been. I know I gave Daryl some heat at first but that was mostly because it was fun and not because I didn't like him," he told him with a smile across his face.

"The Governor is gonna come, Hershel. He will kill every one of us to get what he wants. And now, he has reason to have a vendetta against a few of us."

A somber look crossed Hershel's face, he knew Merle was right. Men like that don't like to lose. They don't stop and they don't care who gets hurt or what happens until they feel satisfied.

"You don't think we got a chance of defending ourselves, do you?"

"There's always a chance. It's a small one, but there's a chance. I'm going to make sure of it, no matter what. If that means me taking a long nap and waiting for Daryl on the other side, that's what I'll do."

"You're a good man too, Merle. Maybe not the best man, but you're certainly not the worst man. And these days, I think that counts for a lot more than you might think."

He continued to stand there even as Hershel left. Yeah, he may not be the best man, but he's not the worst man. And he would do anything to keep the worst man he's ever met away from his family. No matter the cost.

**Author's Note:**

> Basically this happened because while watching Daryl work through his bullshit is fun, I thought it would be fun to establish them before the ZA happened.
> 
> All mistakes are mine, I like to keep them that way, let them know who's boss.


End file.
